Rwanda arrests six for insulting trailblazing feminine soccer ref
Rwandan authorities on Saturday stated they’d arrested six individuals for allegedly hurling insults at a girl who made historical past as one of many first feminine referees chosen for the lads’s World Cup.
Offensive slurs have been repeatedly chanted at Salima Mukansanga by followers from Kiyovu Soccer Membership as she refereed their 0-0 draw towards Gasogi United on January 20 in Nyamata, south of Kigali.
Thierry Murangira, spokesman for the Rwanda Investigative Bureau (RIB), advised AFP that three girls and three males have been arrested on Thursday.
“These arrested are being investigated for hurling insults in public and for discrimination,” Murangira stated.
“They’re suspected to have dedicated these crimes throughout a soccer match between Kiyovu FC and Gasogi United and they’re now within the custody of RIB.”
“Investigations will proceed as we put together their file to be submitted to the prosecutors, whereas we proceed to seek for others who have been concerned on this crime.”
Rwanda’s soccer federation this week launched an investigation into the matter, vowing to call and disgrace these accountable.
Underneath Rwanda’s Penal Code, public insults carry a penalty of two to 6 months in jail and a fantastic starting from $500 to $3000.
Anybody discovered responsible of discrimination may be jailed for 5 to seven years.
Mukansanga was amongst three girls within the listing of 36 referees chosen by FIFA to referee within the World Cup in Qatar in 2022.
It was the primary time girls had been referred to as up for the lads’s occasion, although Mukansanga didn’t find yourself officiating a match.
The 34-year-old made historical past final yr by turning into the primary lady to referee on the Africa Cup of Nations. She additionally officiated on the 2019 FIFA Ladies’s World Cup in France.
str/amu/gil